Javelin was the designation of an American sounding rocket

Sounding rocket

A sounding rocket, sometimes called a research rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The origin of the term comes from nautical vocabulary, where to sound is to throw a weighted line from a ship into...

. The four stage Javelin rocket had a payload of around 125 pounds

Pound (mass)

The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...

 (57 kg

Kilogram

The kilogram or kilogramme , also known as the kilo, is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units and is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram , which is almost exactly equal to the mass of one liter of water...

), an apogee of 1100 kilometers, a liftoff thrust of 365 kilonewtons (82,100 lbf

Pound-force

The pound force is a unit of force in some systems of measurement including English engineering units and British gravitational units.- Definitions :...

), a total mass of 3,385 kilograms (7,463 lb), and a core diameter of 580 centimeters (22.8 in). It was launched 82 times between 1959 and 1976.

This vehicle consisted of a Honest John

MGR-1 Honest John

The MGR-1 Honest John rocket was the first nuclear-capable surface-to-surface rocket in the US arsenal.The first nuclear-authorized guided missile was the MGM-5 Corporal. Designated Artillery Rocket XM31, the first such rocket was tested 29 June 1951 and the first production rounds were delivered...

 first stage plus two Nike Ajax

Project Nike

Project Nike was a U.S. Army project, proposed in May 1945 by Bell Laboratories, to develop a line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system. The project delivered the United States' first operational anti-aircraft missile system, the Nike Ajax, in 1953...

stages plus a X-248 stage. First NASA use in 1959. Could lift 45 kg (100 lb) to 800 km (500 mi).

External links

• http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/javelin.htm
• http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4401/sp4401.htm